Family members of Gaza hostages issued an emergency statement on Saturday evening outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
The statement said: "If in order to receive our loved ones quickly and alive, the price is a ceasefire, agree to end the war and return all the hostages in a deal now. Then, you will be free to deal with the threats from Gaza. First, save lives. The lack of coordination that leads to decisions that endanger the lives of the abductees is carelessness and a crime."
Additionally, thousands gathered Saturday evening at the Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to call for the return of the hostages held by Hamas.
The official announcement about the rally read: "The Prime Minister and the cabinet must rescue and release all the hostages! For their freedom and the freedom of all the people of Israel!"
Among the speakers this evening were Shai Binyamin, the daughter of hostage Ron Binyamin, Yizhar Lifshitz, the son of hostage Oded Lifshitz, and Noam Perry, the daughter of hostage Haim Perry, who marks his 80th birthday in captivity.
At the same time as the hostages' rally, a demonstration against the government and in favor of elections took place at the nearby Kaplan intersection.
Growing calls to replace Netanyahu
"The government of destruction is leading us from disaster to disaster and does not have the moral and public legitimacy to continue to serve," reads the official statement of the organization Free in Our Country. "We must ensure that leadership that is committed to the needs of the people and the state is established—and not to its sectoral and survival needs."
Last week, the Hadera police handed out an "information sheet" to protesters in front of the Prime Minister's residence in Caesarea regarding their demonstration rights. The sheet, among other things, states that three people in a public space are considered a prohibited gathering punishable by imprisonment. The information sheet was without an official logo of the Israel Police, and its purpose was to scare the protestors and make them give up their right to protest.
On Saturday evening, the protest in Caesarea was marked by the repeated arrests of protesters, and the "information sheets" were distributed to the protesters.